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The purchase of one ProtectionPillow supports the education and welfare of youth at Made in the Streets.www.madeinthestreets.org

I had a vision two years ago, or maybe it was in a dream. I was standing with an African woman, our arms around each other’s shoulders and we were smiling. It was so strong and clear. It came at a time when I felt I needed change in my life. After 27 years of enjoying an inspiring career as a fashion designer, my soul was yearning for something more. I knew I had to go to Africa.

I inquired at the local Catholic Church; if there was a way my family could help their mission work. We had just started sponsoring a girl through the church’s Sisters of Mercy, in Uganda. Sister Carole MacKenthum, who started the mission there, invited my family to join their trip.

We stayed at the Mercy’s sister convent in Alanyi, which was across the dirt road from the local primary school and adjacent to the health clinic. My job was to make sheets for the new maternity ward. My husband started a baseball team at the school. My two boys helped with the baseball team and with the clinic, passing out food to expecting mothers and making incense holders for the clinic’s patient rooms. The kids of Alanyi were giggling and exuberant, the adults were strong. The food was simple and fresh. They had no waste and a different type of daily stress… less about how much they could get done to feel successful, it seemed, and more about what they needed to get done to get by. Or maybe they felt like they had enough.

A recent college graduate led the trip. Joy had been working in Uganda with the mission for five years, raising money back home to help build and subsidize the school. In down time, I taught her what I had recently learned about the Archangels, what each meant and the positive presence they can bring, and about crystals and chakra healing, an ancient healing art. I decided to make her a pillow on our return home as a thank you for leading the trip. Since Joy seemed so interested in the angels and energy healing, I decided to put crystals and an Archangel Michael token inside, to give her a feeling of protection in her new home. The idea of Protection Pillow was born!

After Uganda, I spent a few days in Nairobi, working with students in the sewing school at Made in the Streets, an organization started by Charles and Darlene Coulston, that rescues kids from the slums. The organization provides food, shelter and general and continuing education. Sponsors from the United States aid the school. The kids were very welcoming, kind and so inspiring.

My life has changed for the better since that trip. I hope each day to remember to focus on the blessings that surround me.